Sonnet 43 Flashcards
What did Browning suffer from?
A lifelong illness.
Who did she marry?
Robert Browning.
How did her husband influence her work?
She understood the power of love and wrote about it.
Who did she have a poor relationship with an why?
Her father, who was very controlling and tyrannical. She opposed slavery and he opposed his kids marrying, and threatened to disown her if she married.
Who did she lose to death?
Her mother, grandmother and 2 brothers.
Which death did she feel guilty for?
The death of her second brother, as he died in a sailing accident in Torquay, after visiting her there for where she was receiving medical treatment.
Is Browning religious?
Yes, a devout Christian.
How many sonnets did Browning write to Robert?
44.
What kind of medication did Browning take for her illness? What could this have led to?
She took an array of opiates which may have resulted in her wild and sheer imagination presented in her poems.
How did Browning and Robert mostly communicate?
Through letters, but in secret, as she knew her father would not approve.
What was her family like and why?
Wealthy, as she came from a long line of slave and plantation owners.
‘How do I ____ ____? Let me _____ the ____.’
‘How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.’
‘I love thee to the _____ and ______ and _____’
‘I love thee to the depth and breadth and height’
‘My ____ can ____, when ______ out of _____’
‘My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight’
‘For the ends of _____ and _____ _____.’
‘For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.’
How many times is ‘I love thee’ repeated in the poem?
A total of 9 times.
‘I love thee to the level of ____ ___
Most _____ need, by ____ ___ __________.’
‘I love thee to the level of every day’s
Most quiet need, by sun and candlelight.’
‘I love thee _____, as men _____ for _____;’
‘I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;’
‘I love thee _____, as they ____ from _____.’
‘I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.’
‘with the _____ put to use
In my ___ _____, and with my ________ _____.’
‘with the passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood’s faith.’
‘with a ____ I seemed to ____
With my ____ _____ - I love thee with the _____,’
‘with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints - I love thee with the breath,’
‘____, _____, of all my ____! - and if ___ _____,’
‘Smiles, tears, of all my life! - and if God choose,’
‘I shall but ____ thee _____ after _____.’
‘I shall but love thee better after death.’
